The Wedding Bouquet

Paintings immortalize moments, feelings, experiences and places. The emotional connect makes a particular painting special. It gives us the chance to relive the past innumerable times and provides joy forever.

The story behind this painting makes it a special one. The moment I saw picture of the wedding bouquet, I thought about painting it. The painting was supposed to be a surprise gift for the young couple.

The source for this painting was low resolution picture. Another challenge was limited time before travel for attending the Indian wedding. I somehow managed to paint the wedding bouquet. Oil paintings take their own sweet time to dry. It was moved around in and out of the house and kept at various places to dry. The air conditioner, fresh air, sun; nothing seemed to hasten the process of drying.There was no question of getting it framed. How do we carry it along? It could not be rolled, as that would spoil the painting. It could not be taken in checked-in baggage as that would have smudged the painting. It could be gifted later but thought the right time was then. Then we thought about carrying it in a box. A maroon box was prepared to carry the painting. An appropriate font was used in golden colour to name the painting on the box. The box was cushioned on the inside. The painting was kept in a U shape with transparent layer on top, so that it did not touch the lid. I wish I had taken a photo of the box for memory sake but we were too concerned about transporting it safely. The box was put in carry baggage, which was kept flat throughout the journey.

The bride was amazed when she opened the box. The look in her eyes was worth all the effort the entire family had put in to take the special painting for her.